Simon Property Group Inc., the world's largest mall owner, said holders of about 85 percent of the common stock in rival Taubman Centers Inc. agreed to their takeover offer of $20 a share. Taubman Centers stock closed Friday at $16.66, up 18 cents. In October the shares traded as low as $12.30. A total of about 44.1 million of 52.2 million Taubman Centers shares were tendered as of Feb. 14, said Dan Gagnier, a spokesman for Simon Property, which is joined in its bid by...

Octogenarian billionaire mall developer A. Alfred Taubman has been sued for $29 million by a Michigan flight attendant who claimed he sexually harassed her numerous times aboard his private plane. In a complaint filed Thursday with the federal court in Detroit, Nicole Rock accused her former boss, 88, of a variety of improper conduct in the roughly six years she worked for the married father of three. Rock said this included grabbing her or brushing against her on...

Taubman Centers Inc.'s board has unanimously rejected the latest takeover bid by Simon Property Group, saying Wednesday that the $1.5 billion offer was inadequate. This is the second time in as many months that Taubman Centers has rejected a takeover bid by Indianapolis-based Simon, North America's largest shopping mall owner. Last week, Simon took its offer of $18 a share directly to Taubman shareholders. The company asked stockholders to defer a decision on whether to...

A federal judge in Michigan threw out a claim by Simon Property Group Inc. that members of the Taubman family illegally gained control of Taubman Centers Inc. in a 1998 restructuring. However, the court allowed Simon Property to proceed with another claim because, it said, the Taubman family rounded up some friends to push the group's control to more than one-third after Simon unveiled its hostile takeover bid. Simon is trying to buy the rival mall developer for $4.25...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The nascent recovery at U.S. strip malls stalled in the third quarter as retail sales struggled. But large regional malls continued to rebound, driven by top-quality malls with high-end department and specialty stores, real estate research firm Reis Inc said Thursday. The retail real estate sector has been among the hardest hit in commercial property. At the mercy of consumer spending, the sector has reflected the diverse pressures and changes since the...

Simon Property Group Inc., the world's largest mall owner, on Wednesday raised its hostile offer for rival Taubman Centers Inc. by 11 percent and added a partner to bolster the takeover attempt. Simon Property increased its bid to $20 a share from $18, valuing Taubman Centers at about $4.25 billion in stock and debt. Shares of Taubman Centers closed Wednesday at $17.44, up $1.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. Simon Property said it will end its bid unless two-thirds of Taubman Centers...

Consumers shopping for shoes at Westfield Old Orchard will soon be able to pick up a shot of Botox, too. Pure Laser, which performs its hair removal, acne treatments and facelifts-in-a-bottle from the sixth floor of a professional building at the Skokie mall, is expected to begin construction soon on a location that will make it neighbors to other tenants Marshall Field's, Lenscrafters, Big Toy Express and Champps Americana. "My guess is it will offer more exposure to customers...

Westfield America Inc., an Australian owner of U.S. shopping centers, will buy a joint venture stake in North Bridge, taking over management of Michigan Avenue's newest mall from developer John Buck Co. As a part of the deal, the Nordstrom-anchored center will be renamed Westfield Shoppingtown North Bridge, a branding campaign that's a key part of the company's rapid expansion, sources said. Westfield, one of the largest owners of American malls, is acquiring a...

Taubman Centers Inc., the target of a $1.74 billion hostile takeover bid, said earlier voting agreements that handed added control to Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Taubman have been terminated, according to documents submitted to regulators Tuesday. The agreements, which pushed Taubman's voting control of the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based company to more than one-third, are being challenged in court by Simon Property Group Inc. as part of its struggle to win control of Taubman Centers.

Equity Residential on Wednesday reported first-quarter results that beat expectations, but the announcement was overshadowed by the unexpected resignation from the board of former Chief Executive Douglas Crocker II. Crocker, 63, was named vice chairman in December when he stepped down after 10 years as CEO of the Chicago-based real estate investment trust. He could not be reached for comment, but in a statement he said he resigned "to avoid any real or perceived conflicts" with new business...

Mall deal: Taubman Centers Inc., based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Mills Corp. of Arlington, Va., said they formed a $1.4 billion venture to develop large-scale factory-outlet shopping centers across the U.S. The 10-year agreement calls for the two companies to jointly develop at least seven projects, each costing about $200 million, including one under development near Detroit by Taubman and one near Houston by Mills.

Simon Property Group Inc., the world's largest mall owner, said holders of about 85 percent of the common stock in rival Taubman Centers Inc. agreed to their takeover offer of $20 a share. Taubman Centers stock closed Friday at $16.66, up 18 cents. In October the shares traded as low as $12.30. A total of about 44.1 million of 52.2 million Taubman Centers shares were tendered as of Feb. 14, said Dan Gagnier, a spokesman for Simon Property, which is joined in its bid by...

- In a Tempo story Wednesday, Michele Norris was misidentified. She is the first African-American female host of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." Her husband's name was given incorrectly. He is Broderick Johnson. - A story in Friday's Business section incorrectly identified the owner of the Woodfield shopping center in Schaumburg. It is Taubman Centers Inc. - The name of Ald. Vilma Colom (35th) was misspelled in a photo caption in Thursday's Metro...

Taubman Centers Inc., the target of a $1.74 billion hostile takeover bid, said earlier voting agreements that handed added control to Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Taubman have been terminated, according to documents submitted to regulators Tuesday. The agreements, which pushed Taubman's voting control of the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based company to more than one-third, are being challenged in court by Simon Property Group Inc. as part of its struggle to win control of Taubman Centers.

Sidestepping trouble: A. Alfred Taubman's plan to raise at least $335 million by taking his shopping mall empire public could help the real estate mogul avoid the problems that have felled others in the industry, including Olympia & York Developments Ltd., the huge Toronto-based commercial real estate developer, analysts said. Taubman Centers Inc. filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to make an initial public offering of 26.8 million shares of common...